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Acanthochitonidae chitons are found in a variety of marine habitats, including rocky intertidal zones, coral reefs, and seagrass beds. They are also found in deep sea environments, with some species occurring as deep as 3,000 meters. Acanthochitonidae chitons are known to be active grazers, feeding primarily on algae and detritus.
Chitons are generally herbivorous grazers, though some are omnivorous and some carnivorous. [34] [35] They eat algae, bryozoans, diatoms, barnacles, and sometimes bacteria by scraping the rocky substrate with their well-developed radulae. A few species of chitons are predatory, such as the small western Pacific species Placiphorella velata ...
Like other chitons, it is a slow moving grazer that consumes several species of brown and red algae including kelps, sea lettuce, and encrusting diatoms. They're also known to eat sponges, tiny barnacles, spirobid polychaetes, and bryozoans.
Coralline algae play an important role in the ecology of coral reefs. Sea urchins, parrot fish, and limpets and chitons (both mollusks) feed on coralline algae. In the temperate Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae are the main builders of a typical algal reef, the Coralligène ("coralligenous"). [5]
The gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri), also known as the giant western fiery chiton or giant Pacific chiton, is the largest of the chitons, growing to 36 cm (14 in) and capable of reaching a weight of more than 2 kg (4.4 lb).
The white Plaxiphora chiton reaches a common size of about 95mm, with a minimum and maximum length of 40–100 millimetres (1.6–3.9 in) and a width of 25–38 millimetres (0.98–1.50 in). The shell of this large chiton is dark green to brown, humped and oval shaped, with eight rough valves.
While larger chitons have been known to eat large algal blades, encrusting colonial animals, or even engage in predatory behavior to trap and consume mobile animals, Acanthochitona zelandica is a grazer and uses the radula to scrape algal films and built-up diatom layers off of tidal rocks.
Mossy chitons are often covered by algae, barnacles, and limpets. The chiton's girdle is covered with coarse hair-like bristles or "setae".The visible exterior of the chiton's eight shell plates are typically a drab brown or grey-green, however on the underside the shell plates have a vibrant turquoise blue color.